Solar Energy Payback Time (Charts)

The energy payback of solar panels is a topic that comes up from time to time here on CleanTechnica. The odd thing is that there are people who apparently know nothing about it but decide it’s their duty to tell people the energy payback of solar panels is a decade or more (which it is not!).

One of my solar stories recently got tweeted by Elon Musk, then subsequently submitted to a popular subreddit, then (of course) pounced on by loud nuclear fanatics (story all about that coming). One benefit from that process, however, is that it prompted some well-informed readers to drop some interesting solar charts and resources under my post. One of the comments linked to a Fraunhofer report that included some interested charts on the energy payback of solar power, which I thought should be shared with more people, so here they are:

So, as you can see, even with the technology of today, the energy payback of solar power is between ½ a year and 1½ years in Southern Europe and under 3 years in the rest of Europe (which has approximately the solar irradiance levels of Alaska). That’s quite a long time before the lifetime of solar panels, which have been shown to work to factory specs for over 30 years… and counting.

Bookmark this one for the next time you see one of those off-the-wall comments about the energy payback of solar panels.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada.
Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don't jump to conclusions.

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